Sissies on bikes

Some of my utility cyclist friends like to brag about their heavy clunker bikes and think that roadies who ride a hundred miles at a time on their lightweight bikes are sissies, wussies, weaklings, cheaters and worse.

After meeting Max this last weekend, I have to agree. I mean look a this guy on his wimp bike on the summit of Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, California.

Max is 60-something years old and rode his bike from his home near sea level up Panoramic Drive with its 8% grade to the summit of Mount Tamalpais at 2,600 above sea level. This guy is truly a weakling -- he uses gears (14 of them on his Rohloff hub) and kits up in the bike athlete outfit in a lame attempt to be like Lance Armstrong. A Real Man would clearly ride a half mile straight up the side of a mountain on the heaviest rustbucket he can find. He would wear heavy jeans, a cotton sweatshirt, and hiking boots to maximize the effort.

In case you can't tell, I'm just a little bit sarcastic. I appreciate all types of bikes, but to dis the the sport I love and the athletes who partake of it -- even the weekend warriors -- is just ridiculous and makes the armchair commentators just sound like fools.

Confidential to Wild: I meant to call, but I forgot to bring your number. Next time!

...glad you made the top of our very special mountain......i've sat on those little benches to the right of the photo, many times, so grateful & satisfied w/ my ride up, in absolute wonder of the beautiful view before me & in gleeful anticipation of the descent...

...& as you mention about mt tam's 2,600 ft, that, on the dirt, riding a cyclo-cross bike, is a real descent...

I'm not so much into the cycling "scene" that I have ever heard such a thing. I do know that when I see some guy on a bike in this weather while SUV's drive past and sneer, I think to myself, "Who's the tough guy here?"

That's a great bike, but most "Racers" would probably be ashamed to be on it. It's obviously an older frame, and it's chromed steel from top to bottom. He's got a 3lb rear hub on there, Brooks saddle, and flat bar barends on the bottom of the drops. It looks like a pretty practical bike for someone that doesn't get enough riding in during the week commuting.